LANGUAGE AND CINEMA

LANGUAGE AND CINEMA



Though pure cinema should be beyond language we, as a collective society, have not reached that level of refinement and homogeneity to detach from spoken words in cinema. The period of ‘silent cinema’ produced some great works of Art such as the cinema of Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplain which made dialogues redundant for a while. But, the fact that with the advancement in technology the cinema makers clung to the sound of words such firmly that the question of abandoning it does not arise . The dialogue writing has come of age too and realism is the order of the times. In hindi cinema too the earlier text and delivery of dialogues has been handed over to the television soap opera operators and much emphasis is applied to write lines which are spoken by characters in day to day life .Often we see that the characters speak the dialect of the region they represent though in the name of artistic freedom certain dialects are spoken to provide humour only and geographical location of the character is of little importance. In the sixties , seventies and eighties though standard hindi was spoken by the actors, but whenever rural depiction was shown the dialect was ‘ bhojpuri’. Perhaps if we trace the origin of this norm the influx of migrant population to the then ‘ calcutta’ where cinema started eventually in a big way could be the reason. Much of the migrants to the city of Mumbai and Calcutta were from UP and Bihar who carried their culture with them and did influence the rural characterisation in films. Dilip Kumar immortalised the rural dialect in his rendition of the role of a farmer turned dacoit under oppressed circumstances. The song in bhojpuri ‘ nain larjayen to manwa ma khatak hoe be kari’ is sung and fondly remembered to this day. Many actors tried to emulate him but could not match his fluidity and rhythm , later Amitabh Bachhan surpassed him, but only slightly on the strength of his larger body of work and having been born in Allahabad. Bachhan matched Dilip in his portrayal of ‘ khai ke paan banaras wala’ in ‘Don’ and also in ’Adalat’ and ‘ Ganga ki Saugandh’.

In recent times Vishal Bharadwaj engaged the audience in ‘Omkara’ with its typical western U. P. accent . Shekhar Kapoor used the dialect spoken in the ravines of the ‘Chambal’ in ‘Bandit Queen’ very effectively, it added to the seriousness of the subject. However; the wide usage of the the ‘dialects’ of Hindi language spoken in eastern and central U.P. and parts of western Bihar ranging from ‘avadhi’ to ‘Bhojpuri’ and its variants have reigned supreme. Other accents have been attempted and the hindi with ‘Haryanvi’ dialect is gaining currency in comedy and with time other dialects will also emerge. Mani Ratnam does provide a distinct dialect to his minor actors but is random in selection as he is not faithful to the geographical region.

Shyam Benegal in his recent film ‘Well done Abba’ has set the film in a village near the city of Hyderabad and therefore his actors speak hindi in the typical accent of that place popularized by the great comedian Mehmood in films ‘ Gumnam’ and ‘Kunwara Baap ‘.What I observed was that this restricted the flow of the film and the dialect lacks the melody which is inherent in Bhojpuri. Perhaps the choice of the dialect marred the fate of the film at Box office as the audience has limited patience for such jarring experiments .Coincidently; I saw a day after I had seen ‘Abba….’ ‘Welcome to Sajjanpur’ a film also of Shyam Benegal released last year which was not only a surprise Hit of the year but also of his career. This film too has a rural setting but with ‘Bhojpuri’ dialect, there is such flow and beauty in that language that it contributes largely to its success. The comparison is apt because the dialogue, and screenplay writer is common to two films . It is my belief that had he retained the Bhojpuri dialect in ‘Abba’ and changed the lead actor to someone more conversant with language variation such as ‘Naeer’ the result would have been better.

At times reason may dictate that a certain dialect is mandatory but the inherent sweetness of certain tongues is beyond debate . It is ironical that the region from where this dialect emerges is one of the poorest economically but has given much emotional joy to the society with its melodious dialect. No wonder why most vocal Hindustani classical music is performed and created in Bhojpuri dialect.

SHAHEED

SHAHEED

I received a SMS this morning , it stated that we should today at least remember for 2 minutes the sacrifice of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev as they were hanged to death on this date in 1931. It made me think that at least some idealism is alive today as mostly we pass much trash to each other on SMS. Then I started thinking of Bhagat Singh and his friends who at such a young age made the supreme sacrifice which motivates us and our children to this day. Some of my friends question the approach of Bhagat Singh; they say that essentially he too was similar to the terrorists; I however consider such assessment short sighted because he made the sacrifice for an enslaved nation who have the right to revolt. Unlike terrorists of our times he and his associates did not kill indiscriminately. Their enemy was well defined; the violent means adopted could be the subject of debate but I leave that discussion for another day. What I propose to amplify is that though Bhagat Singh has written a pamphlet ‘ why I am an atheist’ he was not one from his early days . He was drawn to ‘Arya Samaj’ teachings and even repeated ‘Gayatri Mantra’ as a youth. It was whilst in jail when he knew that the path he had adopted will lead to certain death that he resolved to dismantle all the support systems. He believed that in order to accept the ultimate he will have to be strong enough on his own; for he had seen some of his mates weakening at the time of reckoning ;in fact one of them devoted much of his time in seeking divine blessings/intervention for lenient treatment. All this confrmed to Bhagat that that he will have to burn all his bridges in order to achieve his Aim with head held high( mera rang de basanti chola). Therefore I consider such martyrs rare and indeed he was one. He was also not a young adventurer, he was a thinking ‘Revolutionary’ and had read Lenin’s ‘ State and Revolution’ in confinement. He had ideas for future but his martyrdom was larger than any ideology as it inspires us to this day.

BABA AND MAYA

BABA AND MAYA


The two personalities who attracted my attention during the week were Baba Ramdev and Mayavati. Manifested differently the intent was same—assertion of power. Mayavati was garlanded with 1000 rupee notes amounting to 2 crores and Baba announced his programme to cleanse corruption by launching his own political party, ‘ Bharat Swabhiman’, plans are to contest all seats in the next parliamentary elections .It is indeed difficult to preserve one’s purity in public life; one does get intoxicated by the response and attention of people. Few social reformers have ventured into politics in the past , they prefer to maintain parallel paths for that is more safe and profitable; our revered Baba has decided to catch the bull by the horn! I always admired Baba for his directness of communication and liberating ‘yoga’ from the arena of few to the masses. He also restructured the approach and made ‘yoga’ user friendly. However whilst listening to his instructions I sensed this danger that he may exceed his brief and exhaust and overexpose himself. Soon, he expanded his operations to medicine to treatment with mixed results. Brinda Karat of CPM did try to confront him but was not successful. In my opinion he should have remained a yoga teacher only; a roaming preacher within the accepted image created in our culture. Medicine, hospital and publication indicated his hunger for ‘control’. This image does not correspond to the traditional picture of our ‘yogis’ who preach and teach and leave; for basking in public attention was against their ideology. Baba has broken that mould and therefore remains Baba no more. From here his image will only dilute and decline. Finally he too has been trapped in MAYA !
The subtext of Maya’s script remains same to that of Baba—test of one’s power. These demonstration may appear abrasive and arrogant but are well thought and not spontaneous gestures. By garlanding Maya her party and supporters sent the message to the rival parties that what you do onside we do in the open and are you strong enough to take charge of us? Subconsciously it is releasing its anger and frustration of years and years of subjugation. It is challenge for a battle for they know that they are not inferior anymore. Democracy presents itself in various ‘Avatars’ Maya’s is one such. I don’t agree with her but I understand her. It will take time for the collective anguish of the oppressed to be pacified till then we will continue to witness such pompous and loud displays. An elephant is strong, intelligent and long lasting.